From Here to There
by paleowriter
Summary: When Alice leaves Wonderland, Hatter has some decisions to make. Based on SyFy's "Alice".


Loved SyFy's Alice, and had to write something for it. So here is Hatter's POV of events seen and unseen from around/after the end of the movie! Probably going to be a few chapters long.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from that series.

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And just like that, she was gone.

Hatter stared at the Looking Glass. As the ripples on its surface stilled, so did his thoughts. He was numb to the world. He had his one chance, and he had blown it. Blown it by talking about pizza!

Her face. He would never forget her face as she watched him blabber on. Confusion, awkwardness, and maybe something else? Could he be imagining she had been looking for him to say something more?

He suddenly knew what the oysters must have felt like. His feet were glued to the floor. Out of everything they had been through together in the past few days, this…this was what managed to feel surreal. Alice had left.

"Friends come and go, you know," a voice said. Hatter turned to see Charlie standing beside him. He wondered when he had arrived there. Finding he had no voice with which to respond, Hatter just nodded curtly.

"But…the Looking Glass is not a one-way portal. Perhaps our lady will return?"

Hatter knew what Charlie was trying to do. He was trying to introduce hope into the situation. However, Hatter could not bear to allow that hope to take up residence in his heart, so he shook his head and pulled his mouth back in a tight-lipped grimace. "No, Charlie, Alice will not come back," Hatter said firmly.

"Now, I don't see any evidence to suggest that," the faux White Knight replied, sounding hurt. Hatter felt a flicker of guilt as he realized that he was not the only one who was going to miss Alice. "She certainly cares for us. She cares for you."

"Yeah, well, what does that matter, eh?" Hatter said harshly, glaring at the gray haired man. "Why come back for one old charlatan and a scruffy con artist? If she came back, and I do not say that meaning that I think she will, she would come back for him." Hatter pointed at the King, scoffing.

Charlie looked very concerned upon hearing this. "Surely, you exaggerate. During our travels, she only had eyes for you."

"Until _he _showed up," Hatter said, his eyes icy. "Charlie, has Alice ever once chosen me over him?"

"She turned down his proposal moments ago," Charlie said, raising his chin. "I think that means something."

The younger man blinked in surprise. "She turned down his proposal?" Hatter's eyes drifted for a brief moment, but he soon brought himself back under control. "Sure, but then she left, di'n't she? That doesn't sound much like a victory on my part. Now if you don't mind, I'll be getting back to my tea shop to see what I can salvage."

"You…you're running away?" Charlie asked, flabbergasted.

Hatter turned and began walking, ignoring the old man. He did not trust himself to say anything further. Alice's coat hung from his arm, draped like a casualty of war.

"And all this time, I thought it was you who were the truly brave one," he heard Charlie commenting as he walked from the hall. "But I now see that you are nothing but a coward. A quivering billygoat huddling on his rocky mountaintop, afraid to leap the chasm."

"Shut up, Charlie," Hatter called back, not bothering to turn around.

"Did you even try to tell her how you feel?" Charlie continued to taunt. "No, of course not. Because that would give her a chance to tell you how much she cares about you, and then you would surely be in a conundrum, because how could you connive to live in misery if she insisted on making you blissfully happy?"

"Charlie…" Hatter growled and slowed to a halt, doing his best to demonstrate his annoyance with his tone of voice.

"You have forsaken her," Charlie said, his words cutting into Hatter like a knife. "You leave her to face her world alone after all she has been through. Do you even know where that Looking Glass comes out on her side? Is she safe? Is she lost? Is she – "

"Alright, alright!" Hatter turned around to face the old man, raising his arms up in defeat, Alice's coat swinging in the air. "Yes. Yes, are you happy? I do have feelings for Alice. I hated to see her go. I thought it might be easier to handle if I just forgot about everything that happened with us, though how I would ever really erase those memories is rather beyond me at the moment. I was being a complete chicken shit not being able to tell her how I felt, and continue to be one by not going after her. And I was going to get away with it, too, but you had to go and bring up 'Alice might be in trouble! Alice might still need help!', now di'n't you?" he said, waving his hands in dramatic emphasis.

Charlie's face remained impassive. The two men stared at each other for a few moments.

"You…you really think she might need my help?" Hatter finally said, his eyes flickering toward the Looking Glass nervously.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. But that seed now planted will dig deep roots for one simple reason: you are her true Champion. And you cannot bear to think of her needing help where you are unable to give it." Charlie had the gall to smirk.

Hatter's mouth twitched. "Alice does not need a Champion. She can more than take care of herself, especially in her world."

"Everyone needs a Champion," Charlie said, sagely. "Yourself included."

Hatter pondered this for a moment, pursing his lips in thought. His fingers lightly brushed along the collar of the purple coat in his hands. _Everyone needs a Champion…_Eventually, Hatter reached forward and clasped Charlie on the shoulder. "Thank you," he said, very seriously.

Hatter turned and began walking back towards the mirror, his feet leading him in a determined gait.

"Be sure to write!" Charlie called after him.


End file.
